Performance data that are used as a standard for comparison of program outcomes. A program can use its own data as a baseline benchmark against which to compare future performance. It can also use data from another program as a benchmark. In the latter case, the other program often is chosen because it is exemplary and its data are used as a target to strive for, rather than as a baseline. For example, our goal is to maintain faculty salaries at the median of the CCCU faculty salaries.

An interpretation of scores on a measure that focuses on how the student compares to a set of criteria: "80% of the students passed the Standards of Learning for English; the University is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Universities."

Direct measures for learning outcomes

Measures of student learning that require students to demonstrate their knowledge, values and skills. Objective tests, essays, presentations, and classroom assignments all meet this criterion.

Direct measures for administrative outcomes

Measures of performance taken from department operations: no. of students enrolled, percent of student financial need met, percent of tasks completed within allotted time, roster size for athletic teams, no. of museum visitors or counseling clients.

An interpretation of scores on a measure that focuses on how the student or program compares to others: "the student's performance put him at the 75th percentile; the University ranked second in US News Report's annual list of Best Colleges."

Refers to the specific knowledge, skills, or developmental attributes (i.e. attitudes or values) or behaviors that students develop as a result of their university experience; administrative outcomes specify the intended benefit or impact of the program.

An assessment technique involving the gathering of data through systematic observation of a behavior or process and evaluating those data using a clearly articulated set of performance criteria as the basis for evaluative judgments.

A "carefully designed and focused course of action that addresses a well-defined issue of issues directly related to improving student learning" (SACS, 2004, p. 9). The QEP is required for continuing accreditation status with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission.

A scoring tool that lists the criteria for a piece of work, or "what counts" (for example, purpose, organization, and mechanics are often what count in a piece of writing); it also articulates gradations of quality for each criterion, from excellent to poor.

The impact of participating in higher education on student learning and development above that which would have occurred through natural maturation, usually measured as longitudinal change or difference between pretest and posttest; a comparison of the knowledge, skills, and developmental traits that students bring to the educational process with the knowledge, skills and developmental traits they demonstrate upon completion of the educational process.